Job 21:12

12. They take- Literally, They lift up (the voice) with the tabret, etc. The timbrel - Toph, (comp. Genesis 31:27,) appears to have been a small hand drum, such as was known among the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Hebrews. It is still in use in the East, and is called by the Arabians, doff; in Spanish, adufe. The ancient Egyptian drum, according to Engel, was from two to three feet in length, and covered with parchment, like our own, and was beaten by the hands at both ends.

The harp Kinnor, supposed by Wilkinson to have been the lyre, was probably the earliest musical instrument invented by man. Genesis 4:21. The annexed engraving is of one of the figures in an Egyptian painting discovered in a tomb at Beni-Hassan. It represents the arrival and introduction of one of a company of foreigners to the owner of the tomb, who was evidently one of the principal officers of the reigning Pharaoh. Wilkinson surmises that they may be Jews, and not improbably of the family of Jacob. All the men wear beards, contrary to the custom of the Egyptians. The last two accompany a laden ass, one of them holding a bow and club, the other (as in the engraving) a lyre, which he plays with the plectrum. ( Ancient Egyptians, ii, p. 296.) See note, Genesis 47:2. Organ עוגנ , ‘ hougab, was a perforated wind instrument of some kind, probably the pipe. (Genesis 4:21.) It seems to have been known to most ancient nations. There has been discovered in the ruins of Susa a figure in baked clay representing a female playing upon a pipe. (ENGEL, Music of Most Ancient Nations, p. 77.) Thus we have the three different representative kinds of musical instruments: first, of percussion; secondly, stringed instruments; and, thirdly, wind instruments.